SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -Illinois business may soon have additional incentive to hire long term unemployed Illinois workers under legislation cosponsored by state Rep. Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale.
"Illinois has thousands of hardworking men and with tremendous skill who are ready to join the workforce," Smiddy said. "This legislation will help give employers a reason to give these workers a chance to get back on the job."
Smiddy is cosponsoring House Bill 144, which provides a tax credit for businesses that hire individual who have been unemployed for at least 27 weeks. The credit increases in each of the first three years the new employee remains with the employers; encouraging long term hiring and new careers. An employer receives a tax credit of $500 the year they hire a long term unemployed worker, $750 in the first taxable year after he or she is employed and $1,250 in the following year.
"Illinois unemployed workers deserve the chance to return to the workplace to support their families, and the employers that put them back to work should be rewarded helping them get back to work," Smiddy said. "I'll continue to support measures that help Illinois businesses grow and return workers to the jobsite."
House Bill 144 was introduced in January and awaits action in the House Revenue and Finance Committee.
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